Man on Fire
by Devabbi
Summary: Inuyasha is a bodyguard. He gets a new job, and tells himself that he will not get attached. But when he gets attached, and she gets killed, he'll do anything, even murder, to get to the bottom of the truth and stop a crime ring. AU InuKag COMPLETE
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or Man on Fire.

* * *

Myoga met his old friend, Mr. Higurashi at the end of the day for lunch. Lucille's was always the best place to go for lunch, dinner, or just any business meeting. Their meal was ordered and Myoga listened to his friend tell him about his daughter's recently fallen bodyguard. 

"Koga was a good man," said Mr. H. "He didn't ask for much, and protected Kagome as if she were his sister... or perhaps something more." The man nodded sadly, a disappointed look appearing on his face. "He died protecting her – took six bullets to the chest before he went down. By then, the police had arrived and got Kagome out of there. But Koga went down swinging, according to Kagome. He took out another two of them while he was on the ground, dying."

The older man shook his head. "It's a shame. Good bodyguards are hard to find nowadays. Most of them, you only get what you pay for." Myoga said, raising his glass to his lips and taking a sensual sip. The wine wasn't much of a good year, but he couldn't outright order tequila, no matter how much it appealed to him. He set the glass back down and sent a withering look toward it. He preferred actual alcohol.

Mr. Higurashi smiled a bit. "Koga was more than I could ask for. He worked for six years, and on a highly diluted pay. Izumi was half in love with him, I think." said the man, referring to his wife. "She doted on him all the time. He's going to be hard to replace. I don't know what I'm going to do now. Kagome can't even go out of the mansion anymore or she has an assassination attempt or a kidnapping... I can't pay much for a new bodyguard. They're getting so expensive nowadays."

"I may be able to help you out, my friend." Myoga smirked some, folding his hands and leaning forward a bit.

"Do tell, brother."

* * *

Inuyasha sat in the back of the taxi, watching the southern Perecunni scenery pass by. He was in the country for one reason alone, and that reason was personal. He had a few old faces to see, and according to one of those old faces, he was going to meet a new one. His emotionless face was hidden by his black Indiana Jones' style hat, red bandana over silver hair poking out of it in a tidy braid. The golden eyes were glazed over as the man thought, ears beneath the hat twitching. Miroku was up to something... Inuyasha could practically smell it on the air. When Miroku was up to something, it usually wasn't good. However, Inuyasha had a fair feeling about this visit... 

"We're here, sir." said the driver. The half demon paid and thanked the man and stood on the street as the car rolled away. A few people bustled past him, avoiding him altogether and tipping their hats down. Apparently demons weren't held in the highest of esteems around this place. He smirked a bit and turned his head, eyes looking for the old face he was supposed to meet here. He raised the piece of paper and checked the address.

"Where is that stupid son of a..." Inuyasha began in a disgruntled tone.

"Well slap my ass, and call me Susie!" cried a familiar voice. Inuyasha smirked and turned to his left, laying eyes on his old college friend for the first time in ten years. Miroku hadnt changed much. He still had a perverted grin on his face, bright purple eyes, and shaggy black hair pulled into a dragon tail at the base of his neck. The dress shirt and pants looked odd on him – he was usually a casual party guy. The flip-flops fit, however. "C'mere and give your ol' college buddy a hug."

The half demon moved over and the men shared a hug before holding each other at arm's length, giving the other an once-over. "Hot damn, I haven't seen you since college, you pervert!" He held out his hand with a mischievous look. Miroku and he shared a 'secret handshake'. "Brothers by bone, not by blood. Brothers by mind, not by heritage!" the two said in unison.

Miroku steered the man toward the restaurant behind them after that, the men sitting down and catching up. Inuyasha was going through his rant on the joys of unemployment, and Miroku was losing his nerve. Finally, he cracked and his face split into a grin. Inuyasha paused in mid-sentence and scowled. "What are you grinning about?" he snapped. His eyes flicked for a second to

"I may be able to help, my brother." he sipped his tea conspiratorially. Inuyasha sighed impatiently. "I received a call from an old friend of mine a few days ago. He asked me if I knew anyone he could trust."

Inuyasha canted his head and looked at the man skeptically. "And you thought of me?"

Miroku smiled and nodded. "Yep. Apparently, a friend of his has a daughter who needs a bodyguard."

The demon was silent a moment. "And you thought of me?" He smiled skeptically and shook his head. "No, Miroku, I got out of that business a long time ago."

"That's bull and you know it, Yash. You're still in your prime – barely in your late twenties. I know you're unhappy in the States. You've got more experience in related fields than most bodyguards, and you don't want more than you get paid for." said Miroku, trying to persuade him to like the idea. Inuyasha was always stubborn, however...

Smirking, Inuyasha shook his head. "Happiness is a state of mind."

Miroku had figured the demon would be difficult. He looked skyward as if requesting for divine intervention. "That's beyond the point," he sighed exasperatedly, "You need the money, he's bound to hire you, and there's no doubt in my mind that you are positively itching for some action." He leant across the table and whispered conspiratorially. "The girl's a target, Yash. It'll be a challenge for you. It's no easy task... on your own... protecting someone who has kidnapping attempts done on her every other day..."

"Alright, alright..." Inuyasha waved a hand, only to shut him up. "I'll do it, but I'll quit if I feel like it."

The monk grinned. "Good. You've got a meeting with Mr. H. in three days." He stood and moved toward the door, presumably to the car after that.

Inuyasha blinked. He narrowed his eyes and picked up his hat, placing it over the bandana on his head and following Miroku with a frown. "Stop running my life, Miroku!" he cried indignantly as he trailed the man to his car.

* * *

Inuyasha was in the fairly new Jag, driving Mr. Higurashi, who would possibly be his new boss. Adjusting his hat, he glanced into the rear view mirror as the man surveyed his file. "You have a lot experience, Mr. Tama. Six years in the military, two years in the FBI ground force, three years in the ground force of the narcotics department in NYPD." The man looked up from the papers, an impressed look on his face. "What's the catch?" 

The demon raised a brow and smiled lightly. "I'm not very sociable." he said, overlooking the fact of his blood. It was on the papers. It was Mr. H's fault if he didn't see it.

Mr. H. smiled. "I don't think that will be a problem." he said, closing the file and placing it on the seat beside him. "My wife, Izumi, is very... attaching. No doubt, if you have well enough manners toward her when you do see her, she'll like you enough to hire you. I may be the deciding force, but she's got quite a sway on me."

"I would imagine so, Mr. Higurashi." said Inuyasha a bit formally.

Inuyasha was standing in the living room, his hat still upon his head, over his bandana. He had his hands folded behind his back, fists barely touching the end of the braid. He was gazing over the room; eyes bored and once again glazed over in deep thought. An older woman appeared in the room and his head was turned toward her. She looked him up and down before looking to Mr. Higurashi, who was sitting in an armchair in the corner of the room. "Koi, this is Mr. Inuyasha J. Tama, Kagome's possible new bodyguard. He's got a lot of experience..."

Mrs. Higurashi walked right over to stand in front of Inuyasha, completely ignoring her husband. She looked him in the eye. "Take off your hat." she directed. Inuyasha raised a brow but did so, glancing over at Mr. Higurashi before he followed her order. The bandana was oddly shaped – and she figured it was hiding something below it. "And the bandana." she said, crossing her arms with an authorative look. Inuyasha frowned, but untied the knot at the base of his neck easily, freeing two triangular dog ears that were positioned at the top of his head. Mrs. Higurashi eyed them before nodding. "Half-demon," she mumbled, looking back down into his indifferent golden eyes. "You can put your affects back on." She turned around to face her husband. "I like him. Hire him." With that, she left the room.

"I see what you mean by 'quite a sway'." Inuyasha said with a light smirk, tying the bandana back in place and putting his hat back onto his heat. "She's a very authorative woman." He folded his hands in their previous position behind his back and Mr. Higurashi smiled, turning toward the stairs and calling his daughter down.

Inuyasha glanced toward the stairs as he heard a body descending them, and did a double-take, turning his full head toward her. The girl wasn't exactly breath-taking, but she was fairly beautiful. She had long black hair that was currently free-falling, a brush in hand. Her gray-blue eyes surveyed him with a bit of interest, while his golden orbs indifferently took in her appearance. His Adam's apple bobbed as he returned his eyes to the window. "Come meet your new body guard, princess." said Mr. Higurashi. The girl further descended the stairs and stood a few feet in front of him. "His name is Mr. Inuyasha J. Tama. I expect you to respect him."

"He's a demon." she said bluntly. "Like Koga was."

"Half," Inuyasha corrected her, looking down at her apathetically.

Mr. Higurashi frowned. "Kagome, don't be rude. Introduce yourself."

"Yes, father." she said, holding her hand out. "I'm Kagome A. Higurashi. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Tama."

The half demon took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. _Manners, manners, manners, manners_... he chanted. _I need this job_. Kagome smiled a bit as he spoke. "Pleasure is mine, Miss Higurashi." He dropped her hand and stood up straight, tipping his hat a bit.

"Please, just Kagome." she said with a grin before turning to her father as he spoke.

"Kagome, show Mr. Tama to his room, please." Kagome nodded eagerly and took the rigid half-demon by his arm, forcibly leading him out to the garage and past their workers.

"That's Jumbo, the head gardener. Hi, Jumbo!" she waved animatedly at the man. Inuyasha only nodded his head. Jumbo was a large man with a jovial appeal. His black hair was graying and thinning, and the wrinkles on his face only added character. His blue eyes still twinkled.

"That's Ayame, the cook." She waved again and turned once more. Ayame had auburn hair that was pulled back into pigtails. Her green eyes were sad and withdrawn, her skin pale. She looked pretty down, but waved to the girl all the same with a small smile.

"That's Rico, the pool guy. He always hits on me, look out for him... Hey Rico." Inuyasha eyed the man. He was young, probably barely out of his teen years with thick brown hair and brown eyes. He grinned at Kagome and looked her up and down hungrily. Kagome rolled her eyes and flounced away. Having finally let go of his arm, Inuyasha held the ability to walk silently behind her.

"And there's the butler named Aaron, he's cool, and then Jenny the maid. I think Aaron and Jenny have a thing for each other, but that's beyond the point." said Kagome, opening a door to another building adjacent to the main house. He followed her up a winding staircase to a small apartment-like room with a bedroom, bathroom, and half-kitchen with a microwave and small refrigerator. "Looks kind of like a dorm, hn?"

"I wouldn't know." said Inuyasha, stepping into his new room. "I never went to college." He moved into the small kitchen area, which had a fold-up table in it as well. On the table was a bird cage, complete with two twin birds inside. He looked from the birds to Kagome and back at the birds. "What are these?"

Kagome smiled some. "They were Koga's. That's Ginta and Hakkaku, Ginta's the one with a bunch of missing feathers, and he always has his feathers ruffled too. Sometimes they'll talk to you." Her tone was rather depressed as she opened the cage and put a hand in, sticking it in front of their feet gently and cooing at them. "C'mon, Ginta." Ginta hopped onto her hand and she pulled him out of the cage, stroking his feathers on his back gently. "Hi, Ginta, how are you?"

"Kagome-chan! Kagome-chan!" the bird squawked. Kagome smiled. Inuyasha watched her with an amused look.

"He knows my name and a few short sentences... Careful, they'll call you a schmuck if he thinks you're being mean to him. Jumbo taught them that one." Kagome chuckled a bit and returned Ginta to his cage. "If you don't want to take care of them, I can have them in my room." she offered with a slight smile.

Inuyasha eyed the two birds and shrugged a bit, taking off his leather jacket and hanging it on a rung. Golden eyes roamed over the room. It was small, painted a fairly dark red. He could definitely work with that color. It mainly had a bed, dresser, bedside table, and three doors. One led to the closet, another to the bathroom, and the other to the staircase downstairs. His suitcase was already on the queen-sized bed. "I'll take care of them." he said uncaringly.

"What a schmuck! What a schmuck!" the birds chirped. Inuyasha growled at them, a frown appearing on his face. Kagome laughed a bit. Inuyasha then decided that he'd rather hear that laugh more than the sad tone he had heard earlier when she spoke of Koga. He remembered a Koga guy in high school vaguely, but couldn't quite put his finger on a face. He shoved it to the back of his mind and set to getting himself moved in.

* * *

o.o Don't kill me. This plot bunny's been running rampant through my mind for MONTHS and I just had to do it. I've got a bunch of little side stories too, but I think this will be the only one I'm actually publishing. Baby, Baby is moving along quickly, Feeling This has one more chapter to go if I ever get over my writer's block, and Trucker is practically finished. I'll wait awhile before putting up its sequel. I need a new story. Hope you end up liking this one... It's based off of Man on Fire, with Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning. Great movie. Rent it. I will be extending the story, and Inuyasha at the end. Can't tell ya'll that... 


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Man on Fire.

* * *

One full three months after his arrival, Inuyasha was standing in the kitchen. He supposedly was keeping an eye on Kagome. However, he was keeping two eyes on her as often as she was looking down at her book, which was habitually. "Hey Inu-chan, what's a wench?" she asked suddenly.

Inuyasha flinched at the nickname, and then raised a brow before pinning her with a deadpan look. "You're how old?" he asked skeptically, the apple in his hand jumping up and down in rhythm with his fingers.

"Twenty-three next month." she replied brightly, giving him an innocent look and flipping a page in her thick history book.

The bodyguard's look turned to disbelief. "And you don't know what a wench is? My my, you're sheltered... Why do you need to know?" He leant over and peered into her book to see what she was doing.

"It's ancient Chinese history." she explained, running a finger down the page to show him the exact place where she found the word. "It says that the emperor usually had sixty to seventy wenches at one time, at his beck and call. I don't know what a wench is, so I'm hoping you know. Do you?" Kagome asked, blinking unknowingly at him.

The half demon snorted. "It's a woman who gets paid to do naughty things with men, like a prostitute or a whore. It's also considered a curse word, so you might not want to say that word in front of your dad." he advised, leaning back against the counter and taking a hefty bite out of the apple. He smiled a bit. "And if you do, don't say I told you what it meant."

"You're smiling." Kagome said, her gray-blue eyes twinkling with barely retained giggles.

Inuyasha frowned. "I am not. It was a smirk." He fumbled through his mind for words to explain his 'smiling'.

"You were smiling, Inu-chan." Kagome said with a tone that Inuyasha did not prefer.

"No, I wasn't. It was a smirk. They both start with an 's', but they're... They're different." His look hardened and he glowered at her deflatedly. "Do your homework." he snapped, taking another bite out of his apple.

Kagome's gaze lingered a bit longer on him before continuing on with her homework. After turning a few more pages and scribbling down a few more notes, Kagome continued with her questions. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Inuyasha blanched and almost dropped his apple. "What?" he asked incredously, staring at her as if she had grown a second head.

"You heard me."

The half-demon blinked and shook his head. "What is it with you and your questions?" he mumbled. Kagome made a humming noise, leaning forward on the counter eagerly to hear his response. Inuyasha looked up. "You're supposed to be studying history." he pressed with a frown, attempting to get out of answering the question.

"It is – Inu-chan history." she replied happily, moving to close her book.

Inuyasha placed a hand on the page with a frown. "It's ancient history."

"So you did have one, then?" she said with a triumphant smirk, placing her hands in her lap.

The man sighed in exasperation. This girl had more energy than was noted, and she was more trouble than was worth. "Yeah." he mumbled with a slight smirk. "Her name was Nunya."

Kagome raised a brow. "Nunya?"

"Yeah." he grinned, "Nunya Business."

"You're so mean, Inu-chan." Kagome rolled her eyes, closing her book and hefting the thing up to her room. Chuckling, Inuyasha followed her to keep watch. _You should smile more often, Inu-chan. You're cute when you smile... _Kagome thought.

* * *

Later that night, Inuyasha was going on a binge. He had a forty ounce bottle of vodka – more than enough to get him smashed. Sadly enough, Inuyasha was a weepy drunk. Kagome had brought up a touchy subject. He and his last girlfriend Kikyo had ended on very, very rough terms. Kikyo had eventually tried to kill him, saying that if she couldn't have him then no one could. In self defense, he inadvertently killed her. The judge hadnt convicted him, luckily enough, because of his military status, but it scared him enough to make him lose most of his nerve. He lost his place on the NYPD, and eventually had been unemployed for six months before Miroku called him.

Inuyasha had a gun. He loaded it with a nine-millimeter round and put it to his temple. Pulling the trigger, he eagerly awaited the bliss of death... But it never came. Opening his golden eyes, he uncocked the gun and pulled the bullet out. After giving the gun an once-over, he could find nothing wrong with the gun. Reaching for his phone after the sobering experience, he rang up Miroku.

* * *

Miroku had been with his flavor of the week when his cell phone rang. The television had been left on, and he was fatigued from his earlier activities. Somehow, though, he got the vibe that this was an important call. He picked up the cell phone to see Inuyasha's number flash on the caller ID. "It's four am, Inuyasha, this had better be good." he growled, his voice thick with the unsteady haze of sleepiness.

"...You ever have a nine millimeter round that didn't fire?" Inuyasha asked as if he were in a trance. He was tired, half-drunk, and confused at the same time. None of those three were good in a combination together, and he strangely wasn't sounding irritable at all. Miroku understood that he should not mess with Inuyasha when he asked questions. If he didn't get a straight answer, he got pissed off. That was just Inuyasha.

Raising a brow, Miroku nodded to himself and sat up in his bed. "Sure. There are a number of reasons, Yash. You probably know them better than me; you were always the student and I hated school." When Inuyasha didn't reply, he continued. "Bad primer, busted hammer... Hell, I dunno... Why?" Miroku stretched an arm above his head with a jaw-cracking yawn.

Inuyasha paused before answering. "Nothing."

"Well, as interesting as this conversation promises to be, I'm gonna hang up now and go back to bed because I have to work in the morning. You do too, by the way, so you may want to get some shut-eye... But is that okay with you or are you going to call me again in five minutes like you did last year at New Year's?" Miroku groused, lying back against his pillows with a tired sigh.

The half-demon sounded unsure, which worried Miroku because usually Inuyasha was the most positive out of the entire force. He'd been on NYPD with him before he moved to Perecunni. But honestly, Inuyasha always had the most nerve out of the entire squad. "Do you think God will forgive us for all we've done?" he whispered.

"What 'God'?" Miroku snorted with an eyeroll, being an avid agnostic himself. He closed his eyes and scowled at the question. Getting into religion with Inuyasha was close to suicide.

"Miroku." Inuyasha's tone was demanding, showing that he wasn't in the mood to be dragged through another talk about religion. They'd done it before, and he wasn't in the mood to do it again.

Miroku sighed and answered his friend, gathering all the patience he could about him. "No. No, I don't think they would even if they existed. We've done too much wrong to be forgiven for, son dying for our sins or not." He sighed in an exhausted manner. "Can I go back to bed now?"

"Sure."

The line went dead and Miroku rolled his eyes, putting his phone back on the bedside table. "Man is going insane, I swear to whoever the hell is listening..." he mumbled, snuggling up to his pillows. Soon, he was fast asleep and snoring. Inuyasha, on the other hand, wasn't quite so lucky.

* * *

Inuyasha stared at the bullet for so long that he lost track of the time. Before he knew it, the sun was back up. He blinked and sighed as he heard Kagome's alarm clock go off across the courtyard. He picked up an empty matchbox that Koga had left there and pushed the little tray out. Placing the bullet inside, he closed the matchbox. Getting to his feet, he stretched and put the matchbox up on the arch that led to the small kitchen. He changed his clothes quickly and pulled on his coat. Picking up his keys and wallet, he stuck both in his pockets and headed downstairs to go get breakfast from Ayame.

"You look like hell, Inuyasha." Kagome commented lightly while eating her fruit loops. "What happened?" she prodded. Ayame was bustling about the kitchen, no doubt fixing breakfast for the elder Higurashi. Inuyasha chose not to respond, but instead leaned over her bowl of cereal to the fruit array at the center of the island. "Excuse you," she muttered, frowning at him. She secretly reveled in his earthy scent, but she'd never let him know that. It was all in her diary, but again, he'd never know that. She grinned a bit at the thought.

"Quit smiling, _wench_." he breathed as he retracted his body from off the counter. Kagome flinched and swallowed hard. Ayame turned and smacked him with her spatula as he took a bite out of a peach. "Ow! Ayame, what the hell?" he groused, frowning at her and rubbing the offended spot.

Ayame put one fist onto her hip, waving the kitchen tool in his face with the other. "Don't call Kagome-chan a wench, or next time it'll be a cast-iron skillet thwacking the backside of your head." she snapped at him. With that she straightened her apron and turned back to her bacon. Kagome grinned at him innocently and shook her spoon at him. He growled at her and took another bite out of his peach. As was their usual ritual, Kagome was expected to be finished with her breakfast by the time he completed his piece of fruit. And she was so as Inuyasha was walking silently out the kitchen door, Kagome trotted after him with her backpack in tow.

"Hey Inu-chan, when you pick me up after school today, can we go for ice cream? I'm sure my craving will have multiplied by then." The girl scowled, just about jogging to keep up with him. "Slow _down_!" she cried, an arm snaking out to grasp his shoulder. Inuyasha snarled and whirled around. With a quick glimpse at the house, he yanked her behind a tree and pinned her to the trunk. "Inu-chan, what are you..." She blinked as he covered her body with his, his face inches from hers. "Oh." she said simply, swallowing and raising her brow at the pressure digging into her thigh.

Inuyasha stared into her unwilling eyes. "Let's get this straight, _Kagome-chan_." he hissed, "You're a minx. You may not realize it, but **damn it** you're beautiful. It's starting to get to me. But you're innocent; naïve. I can lose my job over this. I **need** this job. You need me to _protect_ you. To do that I have to keep you as _far_ as _possible_ from me. **I** don't want to end up hurting you when you push me away. I don't want **you** to end up hating **me **when I force you into something. So here's what we're going to do – I'm going to ignore you. You're going to ignore me. We're going to ignore each other, no matter how much it hurts, and I _know_ it will. Is that clear?" Kagome nodded. He took a deep breath and swallowed. Kagome's focus was momentarily torn from his eyes to his Adam's apple. "Can you do that, wench? Or do I have to risk my job?"

Kagome swallowed and blinked at him. "Yes. Yes, I can, Inu-cha--... _Inuyasha_." Inuyasha released his hold on her with a light growl and stiffly walked to the car. He opened her door for her, but kept his gaze fixed on a car a while up the road. Kagome's eyes lost their glow some as she got into the car. She looked up into his face, but it was a mask. Unlike the fierce look he'd been giving her only moments before; he was now one of her mindless temporary bodyguards that died quickly. She never remembered them.

During the drive, Kagome kept silent, as did Inuyasha. Kagome was thinking about what he had said. This was nothing like her fantasies or her trashy romance novels. Inuyasha practically told her that he wanted to have sex with her, but was willing to resist any urge for her well-being. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she let just one tear slip down her cheek. It burned a trail on the cold skin as she pressed a hand against the window, eyes not on the silver head in front of her, but the dark clouds.

Inuyasha didn't overlook the tear.

* * *

That is the fastest I've ever put up the second chapter. This story is ROLLING... I know I may seem like I'm rushing it, but I don't have a lot to go on with them getting all buddy-buddy, so I had this happen first. No, this did not happen in the movie Man On Fire, because I really doubt Denzel Washington would play a pedophile. No, I have changed their ages, and mindsets, so this would work. Kagome is 23, Inuyasha is 29. Mmkay? 


	3. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, Man on Fire, and do not mean any offense to Ms. Barbara Streisand.

* * *

It had been three days since Inuyasha's declaration. Mrs. Higurashi noted the difference in both of their moods. Kagome was gloomy, quiet, and reserved. Inuyasha was a little more irritable, quiet, and unfocused. He hadn't spoken much to any of them, except for short, quick commands to Kagome, such as "Let's go," or "C'mon." However, she could clearly see that both of them were in pain, and that something had happened between the two. She had seen the hidden flame of attraction grow and then seemingly be put out quite quickly. She didn't like it, either. Kagome was in her last semester of college, and only two months from her Masters in physics. Kagome needed a man, and Izumi needed grandchildren.

While standing in the kitchen just after the two had left, she picked the phone up off of the cradle. Ending her idle chatter with Ayame, she dialed Myoga's phone number. Myoga had purposely asked Miroku about Inuyasha after he and Kagome's mother hatched a scheme to acquire some children running around the Higurashi manor. "Myoga, we have a hitch in the original plan." she told the older man when he responded.

"A hitch? What kind of a hitch?" he demanded, his tone disbelieving. Izumi could picture his small fist beating the oak desk in frustration.

Izumi beamed somewhat at the image. "Kagome and Inuyasha have seemingly squelched their original attraction, though it caused both of them a considerable amount of pain... Now, I was wondering if you could call that nephew of yours that's friends with Inuyasha and see if he knows anything."

Myoga bobbled his gray-haired head up and down. "Of course, Izumi. Tell me though, do you know of anything that may have happened?"

"Not really, Myoga." she said, a moping look appearing on her face. "Rico said that Inuyasha had pulled her behind a tree and they exchanged words, but he didn't catch them. All he told me was that Kagome was crying as they pulled out of the driveway, and Inuyasha's knuckles had gone white. Both of them were very stressed, in his own words." The older woman coiled the phone cord about her finger. "It all seems very suspicious to me."

"Indeed," Myoga quipped. "If I know Inuyasha half as well as I think I do, which I know him well since I raised Miroku and they've been friends for quite some time... Inuyasha is probably looking out for your daughter."

Izumi's brows interlaced together. "By breaking her heart? I've seen the way my daughter looks at Inuyasha, Myoga. I can tell she likes him as more than a friend."

A noisy exhale could be heard over the line. "Inuyasha is a very irrational person. Going by Inuyasha Logic, we can figure that he believes that she's too young and too innocent to be getting mixed up with anyone like him."

"'Anyone like him' my foot!" she cried, stamping her foot against the ground. "Inuyasha is a very good man as far as I'm concerned, and I'd love to see him with my daughter. Honestly, if they didn't have Yugi's permission, I'd override his authority and tell them to have fun." She huffed, crossing one of her arms under an elbow. "What about you, Myoga?"

Myoga smiled, staring over at the picture of Kagome he had on his desk. He considered Kagome as another niece to him, like Inuyasha and Miroku. "I believe that Kagome is a very strong young woman that could especially well rival Inuyasha in brains, brawn, and influence. I also think they'd make a very good pair... Frankly, I can't wait to see the kids."

"Neither can I!" Izumi squealed. "They'd be utterly delightful, don't you think?"

There was a small period of silence. "You've thought a lot about this, haven't you, dear?" Izumi chuckled along with the old man. "As intriguing as this conversation promises to become, I do need to get back to work."

Izumi shot a fleeting look at the clock and let out a minute peep. "Oh, of course Myoga. I'll talk to you later."

"Goodbye, Mrs. Higurashi."

* * *

Inuyasha sat in the bleachers, for once out of his Armani suits and instead into a casual pair of khaki pants, a plain white tee and a red plaid shirt unbuttoned over it. He had sunglasses protecting his sensitive eyes once again, and he still refused to take off his bandana and hat. He was at Kagome's college for a track meet. Afterward, he was going to have lunch with Miroku – therefore, no formal apparel as was the norm. Kagome was jogging in place, stopping every few seconds to stretch. From his place, Inuyasha could see the entire track, and he liked what he saw. Smirking a bit as the runners went to the blocks; Inuyasha shifted and tuned an ear toward the chatty girls behind him.

"He's cute." whispered one. "We should talk to him."

Another one shook her head furiously. "No way, we don't even know if he goes to school here."

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha ignored them. The bullet was shot and Kagome balked, the rest of the runners taking off. She cursed and sprinted to catch up with them. Unfortunately, she only came in fourth. Inuyasha frowned and stood, heading off of the bleachers and toward the bench where Kagome was pulling on her button-up pants, still panting from the sprint. "Kag." he grunted. Kagome flinched and looked up with a raised brow. "You're a fast runner."

"I came in fourth out of six." she said bluntly. "No, I'm not."

Inuyasha shook his head. "Yes you are; you just got off the blocks too late." he said. "You're afraid of the sound of a gunshot." Pulling back the hanging part of his shirt, he revealed his gun. Kagome eyed it warily before he placed the shirt back over it. "I can help with that." He flashed his prize-winning grin at her and Kagome melted. She nodded in response.

* * *

Mr. Higurashi had had a mini-track built in the back yard of the manor, and Kagome practiced there daily. Inuyasha knew that. What Inuyasha had not known, was that she did it alone and at night when he was resting in the house with Ayame. Today, he was out there with her instead of relaxing.

"Okay, Kagome. You can do this. The gun isn't pointed at you, there's no way it'll even hurt your _ears_. You're a prisoner on the blocks, until that gunshot sets you free. No fear in the shot. No fear in the shot! Say it, Kagome!"

"No fear in the shot." she mumbled.

"Again!"

"No fear in the shot." she said a bit louder.

"I can't hear you!!"

"No fear in the shot!!"

"I can't hear you, Kagome! Speak up!"

"NO FEAR IN THE SHOT!" she yelled.

"GOOD! Now," he fired, "Go!" Kagome took off like a rocket. Inuyasha smiled some, holstering the revolver and watching her run around the track twice before coming to stand before him, looking up at him expectantly. "One minute twenty-three seconds." Kagome's eyes widened and then she began dancing around.

Suddenly, as he was laughing at her antics, she went over and jumped up, putting her arms around his neck. "Thank you so much, Inu-chan." she said with a bubbly grin. Inuyasha stiffened and after a moment, so did she. Pulling away, she placed her hands behind her back and blushed. Inuyasha coughed. "Enough practice for today." Kagome chirped, walking away briskly.

Inuyasha chuckled and waited a moment before following after her. "Silly girl." he muttered, despite his current desire bubbling up within him once again. She always did it, even if she wasn't trying. The worst thing was that she didn't even notice when or how she was doing it. Trudging after her, he allowed a few perverted thoughts to drift into his mind before killing the train of thought where it stood. Shaking his head, he decided to do some serious thinking that night.

* * *

Apparently we've got a conspiracy going on as well... Who likes my updating schedule for this one so far? Anyone? grin I like it too. 


	4. Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or Man on Fire.

Please-Dont-Sue-Me's: I do not mean any offense to Ms. Barbara Streisand.

Glossary:  
"_Blah_." different language.

P.S.: Have tissues handy in this chapter.

* * *

"Miroku, I'm in trouble." Inuyasha griped as Miroku picked up the phone. He had just dropped Kagome off at her final lecture of the day and was waiting outside. He heard an exasperated sigh. Glancing upward to make sure the windows were all closed so no one could hear him, he looked back down and listened for a response from his friend. 

The other man spoke in a motherly tone. "What did you do now?" he asked. "Can you be arrested for it? Do I need to bust you out of somewhere?"

"Possibly, and just out of a shitty situation." he sighed, "I think I'm in love with someone I can't have... as in, ever."

Miroku grinned a perverted little grin on his end. "You putz. You're smitten for Kagome, aren't you?" He laughed a bit, muttering something about 'I knew it' and 'bad images'.

"No, I am not smitten for Kagome." Inuyasha bit out with a withering look at the ground. He refused to reveal that it was Kagome he was 'smitten' with; he was going to solve this with some anonymous help from his buddy if it killed him. "I just need your advice on something."

Chuckling, Miroku leant back in his office chair. "Fire away."

Taking a deep breath, Inuyasha told Miroku his problem. "I _think_ I love this girl--"

"Pretty?"

Inuyasha smiled. What Kagome didn't know wouldn't hurt her... "Drop-dead **gorgeous**," he replied. "And I've got a major case of horn-dog over her. However, she's several years younger than me, and presumably a virgin. So innocent and naïve too," he swooned a bit and paused. Miroku cleared his throat and Inuyasha continued hastily. "I've been trying to ignore her, but it's _hard_. And I'm not a whiner either, you know that."

"I get what you're saying, Yasha." said the fiend, smiling knowingly. "You're a sucker for a woman with brown eyes."

"Her eyes are blue." Inuyasha said absentmindedly.

Miroku chortled. "Thank you for proving my point." Inuyasha cursed, but Miroku continued before he could argue. "So, basically you love a younger girl that you can't quite get... Or do you have her, but want to protect her?" Inuyasha mumbled something. "Ah, the latter then... Hmm... I think you need to get over protecting Kagome and find out what she wants. Don't think you know what's best in a relationship – women hate that."

Inuyasha sneered. "And you would know... Thanks, buddy, I owe you one."

"Actually the count is up to six favors, but who's counting?" The men shared an inconsequential snicker before Miroku spoke again. "Anything else or can I go back to work?"

The half-demon grunted, glancing at the watch on his wrist. "Her lecture's about to get out. Go back to work, you slacker." he gagged, holding his phone down and ending the call. "What an idiot..." Slipping the phone into his pocket, he rubbed the heel of his hands into his eyes. "What the hell am I gonna do..." A few naughty images slipped their way into his mind and he quickly opened his eyes. "Barbara Streisand nude in the cold." he hastily muttered, arousal quickly averted. The door opened and students poured out. A few of the girls eyed him appreciatively, but he kept his gaze firmly ahead, hat tipped down. Kagome came to stand next to him. "Ready to go?" he asked, turning his head to look at her. She nodded and he started walking.

Kagome walked with her head down beside him. She waved to a few of her friends, and eventually had to stop to speak with three giddy girls. They were speaking in quick Italian, hoping to catch him off-guard with a language he didn't know. Unfortunately for them, he did know it. "_Who is the hottie you've got with you, Kag_?" one of them asked. Inuyasha looked away, listening and pretending he didn't understand them.

"_This is my asshole bodyguard, Inuyasha_._ I'm sure you've seen him before_." Kagome replied bitingly. Inuyasha raised a brow at that.

The short-haired girl beamed alluringly as she spoke. "_Bet you like him, eh_?"

Kagome liked her lips, seemingly thinking about her answer. "_I did_..._before he turned into a complete asshole_." Inuyasha's brows twitched at that one. He really did need to speak with her, and soon, before she started to think him any more of a dick than he'd already been to her.

"Come on, Kagome. You'll be late for your violin lesson." he said tonelessly. The three girls looked up and blinked at him. He met each of their eyes with his own, and each of their brows rose in unison. Kagome only dipped her head in response, frowning slightly at him. The three girls watched as he opened the door for her and closed it after her. Inuyasha then went around the car and got in. Kagome waved as the car pulled away. Inuyasha hesitated slightly before speaking. "What did you mean by calling me an asshole back there?"

The girl blinked at the man in surprise. He hadn't spoken more than three words outside of bodyguard/driver-related sentences in three days. Kagome cleared her throat and looked out the window. "You need to ask what a girl wants before assuming its heart-break, Inu-chan." she whispered, knowing he'd catch it.

He did, and looked at her shortly through the rearview mirror. "What do you want, Kagome?" he wondered aloud.

Kagome peered at him through her bangs. "I think you know what I want, Inuyasha, my love." she whispered. Inuyasha's eyebrows raised and he swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing. He fixed his eyes on the road and pushed the problem to the back of his mind.

* * *

Inuyasha stood once again outside the building while Kagome was being taught. He glanced up the street at two men inside of their car. Chancing a glimpse down the road, he saw another three in a different car. His eyes narrowed. He turned and moved upstairs toward the room where Kagome was being taught in. Standing in the hallway outside of the room, he pulled out his cell phone. "Miroku, how fast can you get to Sunset Blvd? ...Good. Get here as fast as you can. Call the police as well, would you? Thanks." 

A few minutes later, he heard Miroku's Dodge pull up and his ears twitched as he thought up a plan.. This was surprisingly the seventeenth kidnapping attempt, and it wasn't as clichéd as the others. Kagome opened the door and he turned his head. "Ready?" She waggled her head up and down and he led the way down the stairs, on hand unconsciously on his holster. He stopped when he got to the door, pushing Kagome back a bit. "There are kidnappers outside Kagome. When I tell you, I want you to dive into the car." He handed her the keys. "If I get shot, drive and don't look back. There will probably be a red Dodge following you. Don't worry about it; that will be Miroku. He'll help you out and tail you until you get home safely. He'll protect you if I can't."

"Inuyasha," she began, looking down at the keys and back up at him. "Why are you suddenly so... not confident?" She swallowed, looking up into his eyes.

He bowed his head, the lip of his hat and his bangs working together to shadow his eyes. "There are five of them and I've only got one round with me. That's six bullets. I miss, I'm screwed." he explained semi-brashly. Lifting his head, he looked back into her eyes. "I don't mean to be an asshole, Kagome. I'm just doing my job and looking after you. But... since I may not get the chance to do this later..." He put one arm around her waist, put one hand on her chin to lift her head, and bent, kissing her lips chastely. Kagome's eyes widened as he pulled away. He smiled and tipped his hat to her, pulling his gun out of its holster.

Exiting the alcove to the doorway, he walked as normally as possible to the car, Kagome following him quietly. A shot rang out as Inuyasha opened the door and Inuyasha ducked, pushing Kagome into the car. She obeyed his contrite order and got down to the floor of the car. He crouched behind the car and peered over the trunk. He fired a shot into the car after carefully aiming and cursed when another shot came from behind him. "Miroku!" he yelled over the car. Shots were fired, though he could tell they weren't aimed at him. When all was silent, Inuyasha cautiously stood. Two reports came from his left and he sucked in a deep breath as he felt two bullets lodge themselves into his flesh, one dangerously near his heart and the other wedged in a lung.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed as he fell over, crawling along the floor of the car. Inuyasha shook his head, motioning for her to leave.

He coughed up blood and tried to roll over. "Kagome," he rasped. "Go!"

Kagome stubbornly shook her head. "I'm not leaving you, Inuyasha." She looked over her shoulder to see the last man standing coming toward her. Her eyes widened and she looked back to Inuyasha, who was sporting a nasty two spots of blood on his shirt.

"Go, before they take you." he growled, throwing a pained glare at her. "Please, Kagome, just go." He figured Miroku must be wounded if he hadn't followed yet. Hearing a half-yelled curse, his suspicions were confirmed. "Go." he coughed and lost touch with consciousness. The last thing he heard was Kagome screaming his name like a banshee, being pulled away by her kidnapper. He closed his eyes and groaned painfully.

"**_INUYASHA!! NOOOO!! NO!! INUYASHA!!!_**"

* * *

Can somebody say... angsty? Yes, veddy veddy angsty and rather short... But hey, it was good, right? Right? 

_Tumbleweed_


	5. Chapter Five

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or Man on Fire.

* * *

The Higurashi household was in an uproar. The living room had been cleared of furniture and was now a twenty-four hour detective work zone. Mrs. Higurashi sat helplessly on a step as she watched the officers running around. A few dozen telephones rang at the same time, causing everyone in the room to jump. Mr. Higurashi stood in front of the home phone. An officer looked to him and nodded. He jumped and picked up the phone, putting it to his ear and answering, "Hello?"

"Do you love your daughter, Mr. Higurashi?" said an Italian-accent-laced voice. "Do you want to see her again? If you value your daughter's life as much as I do mine... you will do as I say. Do you have the required ten million?"

Mr. Higurashi looked to another officer and he nodded. "Yes, sir, we do."

"Good. If you do as I say, the girl will be returned as she was taken. But if you deviate from the process in any way... I swear you will never see her again." Without waiting for response, he continued. "The money will be divided into two black canvas bags, each containing five million. You will arrive at two am. You will drive around the circle two times. You will take off your shirt and hold it out of the window to identify the car. There is a payphone on the south east corner. It will ring. You will answer and wait for instruction. And Mr. Higurashi?"

Mr. Higurashi fumbled with the phone a bit. "Yes?"

"No phones or your daughter will be shot." The line went dead and Mr. Higurashi, pale-faced, placed the phone on the cradle. Mrs. Higurashi cried out and ran up the stairs. Mr. Higurashi swallowed hard and sat back down on the sofa, placing his head in his hands.

* * *

At two am that night, Mr. Higurashi drove around the traffic circle the kidnapper had indicated. He took off his shirt and hung it out the window. He heard the payphone ring and he stopped beside it. He got out of the car and picked up the phone. "Hello?" he answered quietly.

"There is a map on top of the phone. Follow it. Put the money in the trunk of the white car and return to your vehicle. Do not look back. Remember, I'm a professional. Keep your word, and I will keep mine." The line went dead without warning, just as it had done before.

Mr. Higurashi placed a hand atop the phone and plucked a piece of paper off of it. The map led straight to a highway, and into an abandoned lot. Hanging up the phone, he got back in the car and drove away.

* * *

At three am that night, Mr. Higurashi carried two heavy, black canvas bags toward a white car. The trunk was open, and he only had to open it carefully. He glanced over his shoulder as shots began to ring out. Mr. Higurashi ran back toward his car and got in, driving away as fast as he could. When he got home, the phone rang almost immediately. A dozen cops leapt for it, but Mr. Higurashi got to it first. "Hello?" he answered hesitantly.

"Mr. Higurashi, you betrayed me." said the voice accusingly. "You took my money. You killed my nephew. Mr. Higurashi," the voice paused and Mrs. Higurashi appeared at the top of the stairs. "God be with your child." The line went dead again.

Mrs. Higurashi descended the stairs in a daze. Tears began to roll down her face. "Get out." she snarled to a cop. She picked up a piece of their equipment and, not caring about how much it cost or how much it was worth, she threw it into a wall. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! GET OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT!" After that spectacle, she collapsed against the wall and sobbed, covering her head with her hands in a ball. "Get out... Get out!"

* * *

"As the newspapers have declared, two police officers have been shot and killed by Kagome Higurashi's newest bodyguard in place of her fallen Koga, along with two other men who have been identified as friends of the off-duty officers, Michael Jennings and Christopher Jeopper. The sergeant assures us that the suspect is in custody, but still in the hospital and suffering from two chest wounds, both of which are serious. Sergeant Andrew Hickman also tells us that the suspect will be tried and convicted as soon as he rouses from his unconscious state and is well enough to go about on his own. Reporting from Nortontown police department, Sango Adorene; back to you, Tom." said Sango, holding the microphone in place.

"And we're out." said the cameraman. "Good job, Sango."

Sango nodded and turned to lean against the wall. Her friend, a detective of the squad, sauntered up beside her. "Hello, Miroku." she sighed, rolling her eyes and slapping his hand away when he made a move for her behind. "How are you?"

"I'm as well as to be expected, Sango." he replied, rubbing the offended appendage. "And yourself?"

"Holding up." she replied with a shrug.

Miroku nodded understandably. "How is Kohaku?"

Sango sighed dramatically. "How do you think raising your teenage brother is supposed to be?" Miroku grimaced and Sango nodded. "Yeah. So I hear that Kagome's new bodyguard is your buddy – used to be on NYPD with you."

The pervert nodded. "Yep," he said, "I've known Inuyasha since junior high. He's a good man – and I saw most of the assault. Kagome was kidnapped, cleanly too. And those cops – they were known for being corrupt, and are now celebrated for being dead. What kind of bullshit is that? Sarg didn't even read my report on the kidnapping... He's gone off his rocker as well, I think." Miroku glanced over at her. "Any chance of you saying that in one of your reports?"

Sango shot a pointed glare in his direction. "No."

"Oh, come on, Sango! You've met Yasha before. He was a general good guy, even if he was a little bit rude..."

The girl rounded on him. "He called me more names than I can even remember, had horrible manners, and was an overall asshole. I don't think I should help you." Miroku pouted. "No." Batting his eyelashes at her, he made little whining noises in the back of his throat. "No, Miroku." He put his chin on her shoulder and stuck his lower lip out further. "No!" The woman, well versed in retaliation, reached up and shoved his head into the wall, stalking off as her news van finished cleaning up.

Miroku rubbed his ear and frowned at her retreating back. His eyes drifted a little further down and he raised a brow, staring appreciatively. "Sango, you're so mean to me." he muttered, turning and picking up his jacket to go check up on Inuyasha.

* * *

The half demon awoke to a hazy feeling. Grumbling, he lifted an arm to his aching head and winced a bit at the movement. His limbs felt weighted and heavy, and his mind was in a fog. "What the hell..." he managed.

"Good to hear your voice again, buddy." a voice nearby chirped.

Inuyasha winced. "What the hell happened to me...?" It all came back in a rush a few moments later and he shot into a sitting position. "Kagome!" He looked frantically around the room. "Where is she – what happened?" He demanded, looking back toward the one person in the room. "I swear to God if you did something to her..." he trailed off as he recognized the face. "Oh," he said, frowning and laying back against the pillows. "It's you."

Miroku raised a brow. "I wasn't aware you believed in God again." he said with an amused look. Inuyasha glared at him. Miroku frowned. "Is that all I get? No "thanks for saving my ass back there, Miroku"?"

"You didn't save my ass." Inuyasha snorted, placing a hand over his pulsating chest. "I got shot twice, and Kagome is still gone." He said, his voice dropping off at the end. Shrugging, Miroku pulled a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket and handed it to him. Inuyasha looked over the blurry numbers and letters. "What kind of sick joke is this?"

Rolling his eyes, Miroku explained. "It's the license plate number on the back of the car." he said evenly, as if he were speaking to a child. "I managed to get most of it down before they disappeared around the corner. Find the car, find Kagome."

Inuyasha blinked. "Miroku, you are a genius." Attempting to stand, he winced as the wound opened again.

"Lay back down, Inuyasha. You're going to hurt yourself." Miroku commanded.

The demon growled. "The hell I will. I'm going to find Kagome." Standing, albeit a bit painfully, he pulled his jacket down from its hook beside the door and then glanced around, blinking to clear his vision. "Where the hell am I?" he ground out, turning and looking to Miroku.

The man grinned. "Animal hospital."

"You sick bastard,"

Miroku shrugged. "It wasn't my idea," he protested. "There are a lot of people mad at you, Inuyasha. You killed to cops and two 'good men'." He used the bunny ears to accentuate his point. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and sat back down on the bed. "An officer from the force is going to come and show you a few pictures to see if you recognized Kagome's kidnapper. However, there's a huge cover-up on her kidnapping, so they just want to find the guys as quietly as possible and hold a fake trial to say you killed two cops in self defense."

Inuyasha sent a blunt look toward the man. "Like I'll go through that kind of torture." he groused, "I'd lose my job."

"They know. They wouldn't listen to me, though. They're only doing what's best for the force." he said bitingly. "And here's Officer Hojo now." Miroku looked up, away from Inuyasha's face and sent a bland look toward the young man walking into the room. "Hojo, I believe you know Mr. Tama."

The officer glared at Inuyasha. He rolled his eyes. Hojo then nodded at his superior and held a binder out to Inuyasha. Taking it, he opened it and looked through the pictures. He knew the drill. Hojo had been opening his mouth to speak when Miroku shook his head. "Save it, kid." he said, "Inuyasha has four years in the military, two years in the FBI, and five years of NYPD narcotics department under his belt. He knows what he's doing." Hojo looked from Miroku to Inuyasha and shut his mouth, standing beside the bed quietly.

After a few more minutes of Inuyasha shaking his head and murmuring 'no', he thrust the book back at the young officer. "I don't recognize any of them. Start showing me some cops and maybe we'll get somewhere." he growled, glowering at the man.

Hojo frowned. "Those were all officers, sir." he said. "Are you positive you don't remember any of them?"

"Positive." Inuyasha responded. "I never forget a face, and I saw all five of the men very clearly. Those were all officers, right? Because I saw you in there, but not Miroku. How about a book of detectives, sergeants, and captains, ne?" he suggested with a commanding look toward the officer. Hojo huffed and left the room. "Man... morons are getting into the force nowadays, aren't they?"

Miroku chuckled a bit. "Hojo's dumb as a post, no matter what you do with him. He's still considered a rookie, and he's been on the force for two years."

Inuyasha snorted. "What a moron..." Inuyasha moved to stand once more.

"Where are you going?" Miroku demanded.

The half demon glanced over his shoulder casually. "I'm gonna go find Kagome." he said. "You going to help me or not?"

Miroku glanced down at the man's shirt. "You're bleeding." Inuyasha gave him a look that plainly said 'so what?'. "You don't stop the bleeding – you won't last a day in your condition."

"Can you help me or not?" Inuyasha said a little more demandingly.

Frowning, the detective stood and crossed the room to his friend. "I'm done killing."

"I know." Inuyasha left the room and headed across the courtyard to where he could smell oil, gasoline, and rubber – cars – and figured there was a parking lot.

"You're talking about war." Miroku said from behind him.

"I know. Are you gonna help me?"

Miroku sighed deflatedly. "Yeah."

* * *

Sango met up with Miroku and Inuyasha at a diner. Inuyasha wasn't eating much. He'd just heard what had happened at the Higurashi household the day before, and hadn't had much of an appetite since then. "They've put a curse on you, Mr. Tama. They want you dead."

Inuyasha raised his head and glared. "I know that. Do you think I care?" The look in his eyes told her no, and she shook her head. "I don't. I'm going to find them, and I'm going to kill them all. Does that affect you any?" She shook her head again. "Good. I can do my job in peace." He stood up, moving back toward the door. He stopped in the doorway and closed his eyes, drawing in a deep breath as well as he could.

His friend followed him and placed a careful hand on his back. "Take it easy, Yasha. We'll find them." The three were in the car and driving before much more time had passed. Miroku was on his cell phone. "I need an I.D. on a white El Camino with the license plate number C51TK8. I got all but the last digit, so I need ten possible matches in the surrounding area. What for? Ah, it was stolen. I'm on the case, and I need to find it... Thanks, Yumiko, you're a doll." Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha crossed his arms gently over his chest.

"Head for the Higurashi place. I have something I need to do."


	6. Chapter Six

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or Man on Fire.

* * *

_So lie down; the threat is real_

_When his sight goes red again_

The Red - Chevelle

* * *

The demeanor of the Higurashi household was plainly depressed, even before Inuyasha set foot inside. A television could be heard from the living room. "The man, a mister Inuyasha James Tama is said to be armed and dangerous, with two bullet wounds in his chest." said the reporter. Inuyasha frowned and rubbed the back of his neck as he went up the stairs. Surely Mrs. Higurashi wouldn't have anything against him. He found her in Kagome's room, sitting on her bed and hugging a teddy bear that she had gotten. Mrs. Higurashi looked up at his entry and cried out, holding an arm out to him.

Awkwardly, he walked over and sat next to the woman, patting her back as she sobbed into his shoulder. Finally, she got her wits about her and stood up. Going over to her closet, she pulled down a small box and handed it to him. "She wanted to give this to you on your birthday next week." she whispered, placing the small fox stuffed animal back in her arms. "They're beautiful – I know you'll love them."

Inuyasha nodded and opened the box to find a set of prayer beads. Opening his mouth to protest that he was a non-believer, he looked up into the woman's pleading eyes. She was on the verge of tears once more. "They're very pretty." he agreed gruffly, pulling them out of the box and placing it around his neck. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, dear." she said, crossing the room to Kagome's bookshelf. She pulled down a pink leather-bound book and handed it to him. On the front, Kagome's name was written in fancy silver lettering. "It's her diary." said Mrs. Higurashi. "There's no harm in reading it... now that she's... she's... Oh, my. Excuse me." she said, fanning at her face and retreating out of the room.

Inuyasha looked back at the book in his hands and unbuckled the lock, opening it and scanning the pages until the date he arrived. He smiled ruefully as she recalled his looks appreciatively. Turning the pages, he saw the tear-stained page from the date he had cut things off between them. It made his heart sink just reading it. The page was turned again and everything else was uninteresting, until he hit the second to last entry. Forcing himself to swallow tears, he closed the book.

After placing the book on her dresser, he walked around the room, running his hands over the furniture and recalling all the memories he had in here. He then moved into the kitchen to find Ayame cooking, a tissue constantly wiping her eyes to keep her tears out of her cooking. She jumped when she saw him enter the kitchen and placed a hand on her chest. "Oh, Inuyasha, it's only you." she said wearily.

"You don't think I'm a crazed madman?" he whispered, looking up at her.

Ayame shook her head. "Oh heavens no." she said, biting her lip and forcing herself to stop crying. "I believe that you protected Kagome-chan to the best of your ability. It wasn't your fault that the evil men you killed were policemen. It doesn't matter that they were either – they're evil. I still trust you, Inuyasha." Inuyasha nodded, taking in this information that he still had a few trusted friends to his name. "What are you going to do now?"

Inuyasha looked up with an unreadable expression. "I'm going to do what I do best... I'm going to kill them. Anybody that was involved, anybody who profited from it... Anyone that opens their eyes at me... I'm going to kill them."

The wolf demon nodded gravely. "Kill them all." she whispered.

* * *

_They say freak when you're singled out_

_The red, well it filters through_

Stalking out of the house at a brisk pace, Inuyasha threw himself into his own car. Backing out of the driveway, his cell phone rang. He picked it up. "What, Miroku?" he growled, beginning his drive down the street.

"I got an I.D. on the car." Miroku said, "It belongs to Miguel Sanchez. He lives on 2223 East Granada Street. It's in lower Uninlod. Know how to get there?" He was following behind his friend, Sango in the passenger seat.

"Yes." He hung up the phone and took a left out of the gated community.

* * *

_So lie down; the threat is real_

_When his sight goes red again_

Inuyasha found the Sanchez residence fairly quickly, and found the man sitting in his car outside, just placing the key in the ignition. Inuyasha got out of his car, jogged forward and got into the passenger seat, putting his gun to the man's temple. "Drive." he said simply. The man smiled secretively and started the car, driving down the street and following Inuyasha's directions. They came to a stop on a cliff on the edge of a trash dump. Inuyasha pulled up the parking break and pulled out a roll of duct tape from his bag that he'd brought with him. He taped the man's hands to the steering wheel and moved back into his seat.

"I'm going to ask questions." Inuyasha said, digging through his bag. "If you don't answer me fully and truthfully, you will suffer much more than you have to. I'm going to cut your fingers off." Inuyasha pulled out an antenna cutter and held it up. "One, by one, if I have to. This," he yanked the car burner out of its socket. "Is to stop the bleeding. Okay?"

_Seeing red again_

_Seeing red again_

Miguel smirked cockily. "Don't mess with me, man. You're going to wish you hadn't."

Inuyasha raised his brows in an amused expression. "Really, now?"

Miguel nodded, closing his eyes. "Do you know who I am?"

_This change, he won't contain_

_Slip away, to clear your mind_

"A member of a gang called Tiger." Miguel nodded. "Okay." Inuyasha reached over with the bottle cutter, positioned it over the man's left index finger as Miguel's eyes widened and he shook his head, repeating 'no, no, no!' over and over. Inuyasha squeezed the handle, making eye contact with Miguel. Miguel screamed out loud as the blood spattered against the windshield. The finger rolled down into the floor of the car. Inuyasha put the burner over the steady flow of blood and a hissing noise was heard. Miguel cried out in pain once more.

The demon sat back in his seat. "Going to answer me now?"

"What do you want to know?" Miguel moaned. "What do you want to know!"

_When asked, who made it show_

_The truth, he gives in to most_

"The Higurashi kidnapping – what went wrong at the drop?" Inuyasha asked, holding up the bottle cutter again.

Miguel shook his head. "I don't know. We were just told to take the girl!" he protested. The bottle cutter inched closer to the man's hand once more and he squirmed in his seat. "I don't know!" he yelled, "We just kidnapped her – that was all!" Inuyasha studied his face and found that he was telling the truth.

_So lie down; the threat is real_

_When his sight goes red again_

"Ordered by who?" he demanded.

The man shook his head again. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Miguel shook his head. "Okay." The bottle cutter was slipped over his middle finger. Screams could be heard throughout the surrounding canyon as the skin was burned.

_So lie down; the threat is real_

_When his sight goes red again_

"I DON'T KNOW!" he shrieked, writhing in pain. "The Voice calls and gives us orders," he rushed. "We take the kid and deliver them to the Guardians. The bosses never see the target. They just make the deal." He panted, staring out ahead of him and at his two missing fingers.

Inuyasha leant toward the man. "Who ordered it?" he hissed. The man didn't answer. "Hm?"

"We call him The Voice."

_So lie down; the threat is real_

_When his sight goes red again_

"And how do I find him?" Inuyasha pulled back a bit, the man looking relieved for a moment. Miguel shook his head, moaning 'I don't know' once more. "You don't know? Are you sure?" The bottle cutter moved toward his hand again.

Miguel's eyes widened and he shook his head frantically. "I don't know! I don't know! I swear to god, I don't **know**!"

"Okay." Inuyasha said, nodding and pulling the bottle cutter away. "Okay, I believe you. Tell me about the Guardians."

_Seeing red again_

_Seeing red again_

_Seeing red again_

At the moment, Miguel Sanchez was in a lot of pain. Though the burning made the places stop bleeding, it still hurt like hell and it made him nauseous. "I'm a professional. I just do my job." he said in a broken voice.

Inuyasha pulled a pocketknife out of his pocket and fingered it. "Tell me about the Guardians."

"I don't make the trade-offs, I just take the girl." Miguel said, closing his eyes. "I don't know about them."

"You don't know?" Inuyasha flicked the blade out of its housing and reached over, putting a hand over the man's head and tearing up the tip of his ear with it. Miguel screamed once more.

_Seeing red again_

_Seeing red again_

_Seeing red again_

Miguel, breathing hard, pulled his head forcefully away. Inuyasha moved back into his seat as he began to speak. "He works the door at a rave in Raked. He has a mark on the left side of his face. They call him the butcher."

"Is he in Tiger?" Miguel nodded. "Okay, well..." Inuyasha's hand moved toward the door.

"Wait," Miguel protested a bit weakly. "Give me a cigarette." Inuyasha gave him a blunt look and he swallowed his pride. He was sure to be dead in a few moments anyways. "Please," he added.

_Seeing red again_

_Seeing red_

Inuyasha nodded. "Okay." He removed one from the man's pocket and placed it between his lips, using his lighter to allow the smoke to pass into the man's lungs.

"Thanks." he mumbled.

The demon's hand returned to the door again as he put the parking break down. "Okay, my friend. It's off to the next life with you. I guarantee you won't be lonely." Inuyasha bent down and looked the man in the eye before raising his gun and shooting him in the head. Walking around the car with his small bag on his shoulder, he kicked the car in the bumper and it rolled toward the cliff until it fell.

_They say freak when you're singled out_

_The red; it filters through

* * *

_

As Inuyasha walked back to his car on Sanchez's street, he found his cell phone ringing. He wrote down the information he had learned from Mr. Sanchez down in a small flip notebook, he answered the phone. "What do you want, Miroku?" he answered, squinting toward the sun and placing a bloody hand on his hip.

"Where are you?" Miroku demanded. "Have you passed out yet? Feeling weak at all?"

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha got into the car and reviewed the information. "I'm fine, Miroku. Find me a rave in Raked that has a worker with a scar on the left side of his face. They call him the Butcher."

Miroku thought for a moment. "I've been there before." he said. "It's called the After Party. It's on Arrowhead Lane, right by Cheesy Charlie's. They've got wonderful dancers..."

"Shut up, Miroku." Inuyasha snapped. "Don't call me until tomorrow."

"Do you want any help?" Miroku offered.

Inuyasha thought about it, but shook his head. "No. Revenge is a meal best served cold. I don't need any friends around for me to worry about."

"I understand that much," said Miroku. "But why are you resorting to murder? I know you loved her... but damn."

The demon sighed and put a hand to his forehead. "I can hear her screaming in my head... Screaming bloody murder – screaming my name. No one else is going to avenge her. It's my duty." He hung up the phone and tossed it into the back seat. Starting and revving the engine, he set out for Raked.

* * *

Well... short chapter, but it's hard to make long paragraphs out of split-second dialogue, y'know? Anyways... Til next time. salute 


	7. Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Man on Fire.

* * *

By nightfall, Inuyasha had reached Raked and found the rave. He parked his car and put his bag over his shoulder. Walking up to the front of the line, he slipped the bouncer a hundred dollar bill before walking right by him. The bouncer said nothing, though the other people in the line protested and whined. Inuyasha walked with purpose from the door toward the DJ room where he had seen a large man with a scar on the side of his face.

Inuyasha kicked open a locked door. He pulled out a picture of Kagome and held it in the face of the man, who was unmoving and looking over Inuyasha with a raised brow. "Tell me about the girl." he demanded of the man.

"I don't know her." said "The Butcher" coolly.

Snorting, Inuyasha pulled his gun out. The man's eyes widened a slight amount, and he directed him with his gun. "We'll see about that. Walk. Show me where you keep the girls." The Butcher began to walk and Inuyasha followed him, keeping his gun carefully concealed as he moved stealthily behind the large man. After he took him into a room, Inuyasha closed the door behind them and pulled his gun out once more, looking over the three people in the room.

There was the Butcher, another man, and an older woman. "Well let's get this over with." He pulled out his duct tape once more and within five minutes, had them all tied to a chair, the wall, or just the floor. "Tell me about the girl." he said to the other man, holding up the picture and putting the gun to the man's chest. "Do you know her?" The man shook his head. Frowning, Inuyasha pocketed the picture. "Tell me how it works." he said to all three of them. "All of it. I want to know how it works."

"Everything is done by cell phone." said the woman nervously. "We wait around for calls and don't even have a number."

Inuyasha growled. That didn't give him much to go on. "How are you paid?"

"Every two weeks, we go to the ATM." said the other man. "Two hundred dollars. The account number is 5638."

The Butcher began cursing at the other two in fluent Italian. Inuyasha raised a brow. There were a few insults in there that even he hadn't recognized. "Shut up!" he snarled, shooting the Butcher in the foot. He went silent, though he was groaning in pain. "Did you kill her?" He looked between the two men. "Don't lie to me!" He shot the other man in the foot, going back and shooting the Butcher in his other foot. Both men cried out and fell to their knees. "Who's the boss?" he insisted. "Who's the boss! Tell me who!"

"We never see his face." said the second man.

"Whose face?" Inuyasha growled, rounding on him. "You never see whose face?"

The second man shook his head. "We were in the other room. He was yelling and cursing because the money was stolen." Inuyasha looked as if his gun hand was about to move. "Onigumo Carver!" he cried. "He's a lieutenant. We just did what we were told."

Inuyasha frowned and held up the picture again. "Did you say goodbye?" he growled cruelly before shooting him. He turned the gun onto the Butcher and shot him as well. He then turned to the woman, who was beginning to cry into her skirt, the duct tape allowing her to fold over herself.

"They threw her against the wall!" she sobbed. "She wasn't moving. They put her in the trunk of the car and drove away."

Growling, he moved over toward her, putting the gun to her temple. "Who? Who is they?" he pressed.

"The boss' brother." she said, looking up at him. "I recognized his voice."

Inuyasha felt a pang of pity. "Okay," he said, "Listen. Tell me where to find him, and I won't hurt you."

"I don't know." she said, shaking her head and crying.

Rolling his eyes, he put his gun back in his holster. "No?"

"No." she said. "You want the girl?"

He blinked. "What girl?"

"The girl! She looks like the one in the photograph, but I can't be sure... she's very beaten up." Inuyasha's heart leapt and he nodded, hurriedly pulling the duct tape off from around her wrists and following her downstairs to a room in the back. She unlocked it with a key and pushed the door open to show a damp room with a mattress and nothing else. "Her name is Rin."

Rin looked to be maybe six or seven years old, but Inuyasha couldn't tell. She showcased many bruises on her arms and legs, and was eyeing him carefully with doe-like brown eyes. Somehow, she reminded him of Kagome. He got a horrible image of Kagome crying with those same bruises all over her, crying out his name. Shaking his head, he shifted his weight. Inuyasha held a hand out to the girl and she recoiled away from him. Frowning he, took a step into the room, watching the woman warily. "Rin? My name is Inuyasha; I'm going to get you out of here. Okay?" Rin nodded carefully and held a hand out to him. He took her hand and led her out of the building.

He had planted a few small bombs in choice places. When he got into his car, Rin safely beside him, he held up his watch and hit a certain button. Rin screamed as the place exploded, an inferno twice the size of the building rising up from the roof of it. Inuyasha started the car and drove away before he could be suspected.

* * *

"Who is this?" Miroku asked, looking at Rin curiously. Rin was hiding behind Inuyasha with a wary look at Miroku.

Inuyasha frowned and turned his eyes skyward. This was a definite hitch. "Her name is Rin. She's obviously another kidnapping case, but I don't watch the news and therefore don't know where she's supposed to be. She understands some English, but can't speak much of it. She doesn't remember where she lives, and she said she'd been hit in the head before, which could explain it. Figure it out." He told Miroku. Kneeling next to the girl, he put his hands on her shoulders.

"_Inuyasha, are you leaving me here_?" she asked in Italian.

The demon nodded. "_This is Miroku_." he said, showing a knowledge and understanding of the Italian language, her home language. "_He's going to give you back to your family_." he said carefully. "_Okay_? She nodded. Standing, he nodded to Miroku and headed back for the door.

"Inuyasha! Don't just leave me with her – I'm terrible with kids!" Miroku whined.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Call Sango. I need to find Onigumo."

"Woah, woah, woah! Lieutenant Onigumo?" Miroku said. He let out a laugh as Inuyasha stopped, turning and nodding. "I know where he lives. He's up north in the same gated community as Kagome. Two houses down if I'm not mistaken."

The half dog demon smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Miroku." With that, he left the house.

Miroku followed him. "What are you going to do Onigumo?" he demanded.

Inuyasha paused, turning to his friend. He looked into his friend's concerned violet eyes before answering. "I'm going to get all the information I can out of him... and then, hopefully he's The Voice everyone else has been rambling about... After that... I'm going to kill him." He pivoted on his heel again and walked to his car. Miroku shook his head sadly.

"Where Inuyasha go?" Rin asked, appearing at Miroku's side and making him jump.

Calming his heart, he watched as the man drove off. "He's taking care of a few things." he said, looking down at the little girl. "And don't scare me like that." Rin blinked at him. "Hungry?" She nodded. "Come on..." He led the girl back up to the house, glancing over his shoulder.

* * *

Inuyasha found Lieutenant Onigumo Carver in his home. He knocked him out, and then put him into his car. He drove the unconscious, half-naked man to the underside of a freeway bridge. Onigumo stood in his boxers, his hands bound by duct tape, leaning against the car as he slowly awoke. "Where am I?" he asked suspiciously.

The half-demon looked up from his bag and smiled secretively. "Nice to see you awake, Lieutenant." he said cheerily. "Do you know how to make a bomb?" Onigumo lowered his brows at the man with a frown and shook his head. "Well I do. It's quite easy... All you need is C4," he pulled a vial of the stuff out of his bag and set it onto the trunk of the car. "A timer," he set one of those beside the other item. "And a pencil detonator." He placed the last thing alongside the other two. Smiling alarmingly, Inuyasha pulled a plastic thing out of the bag. "Do you know what this is?"

Onigumo nodded. "It's an anal narcotics container."

"Correct!" Inuyasha chirped. He set it beside the other things. "You've got C4, a timer, and a pencil detonator in one of these, up your ass." Smiling, he held up his watch and tapped it. "You awoke at a spectacular time – the bomb in your behind is due to blow in ten minutes. It'll be quite a show... The car will probably blow too. It should be interesting." Inuyasha set to work on making the second bomb. "This one will help make sure you die."

The lieutenant's eyes widened. "Die? What have I done to deserve death?" he asked frantically. "Because I'll give anything in place of death – wealth, fame, a job... food! What do you want, good sir, I'll give you anything."

Inuyasha glared at him. "Fame is horrible. I have a job. I have food. Money cannot buy love, only lust. You've already insured the death of the one I love, so killing you... I call it revenge." He smiled once more, the glare gone as he fixed up the second bomb. He placed it carefully in the back seat of his car. "So... going to confess everything you know before your death, or am I going to have to just let you blow up? Because I can take the bomb out and get you back to safety – but only if I want to. It'll take a good deal of information to make me want to set you free." he assured the man with a disarming smile.

The man blinked. "You want information? I've got plenty – what do you want to know?"

"The Higurashi kidnapping – the Tiger's deal. What went wrong at the drop, and who killed the girl?" He pulled out the picture once more and tossed it before the man so he could look at it.

Laughing, the man shook his head. "I don't know anything about that case." he said. "I was working on the last kidnapping – the Rin Weis case."

"Rin has been found by yours truly. Case closed. Now tell me about the Higurashi case." Inuyasha said, leaning on his forearms on the trunk of the car.

Onigumo narrowed his eyes at him. "I can smell blood on you." he said. "You're shot. You're too weak to do anything at the moment."

"Maybe not physically, but then again, I'm not the one with a bomb up my ass now am I?" He grinned. "Mental power is also a plus, especially when dealing with assholes like you..." He mumbled, holding up his wrist and checking his watch. "Hmm, seven minutes to go. Certain you know nothing about the Higurashi case?"

Growling, the demon shook his head. "The Higurashi kidnapping was my brother's deal – I had nothing to do with it. I just helped him get to the girl is all."

"So you sent your two crooked cops with his three kidnappers." Inuyasha prompted.

Onigumo nodded. "Two good crooked cops that you killed." he snapped. Inuyasha smirked smugly as if to say 'what are you going to do about it?' Sighing, Onigumo put his head back down onto the trunk of the car. "My brother is a madman... He's tried to get me to join the Tigers over and over. Half of my cops are Tiger members."

Inuyasha nodded impatiently. "I already know all of this."

"Don't rush me. I am dying, you know..." he sighed and continued. "He told me that if I helped him out on this one case – turn the public against you, and give him two of my best officers – he would get off my back about the Tigers." Inuyasha frowned and looked at his watch again, holding up five fingers. Onigumo scowled. "At the drop, Higurashi had brought cops. They fired on the Tiger members that had been sent to retrieve the money. One of them was my son." He swallowed hard and continued. "My brother and my son were very close – he was a Tiger member. My brother was very angry that his money had been lost, and angry that Muso had died in the process. The girl is being held in southern Perecunni – by the beach."

The half-demon's otherwise bored mind had snapped back toward Onigumo the moment he said the girl was being _held_. "What do you mean held?" he asked, a frantic look in his eye.

"What? They didn't kill her – that would go against the deal." Onigumo surveyed the look in the man's eye. "You love her, don't you?"

Inuyasha snorted. "So what if I do? Tell me about this deal, and I'll remove the bomb."

Onigumo eyed him warily. "Why should I trust you?"

"I was in the military for four years, FBI for two, and NYPD narcotics ground force for five. You have my word."

The man sighed and gave in to that question. "My brother gets paid to kidnap girls. His usual rate is five million, but ten million was a special price for the Higurashi deal. They wanted more publicity – or at least the father did. Usually, the girl is taken for around a week or so, and then given back when the drop is made. But the drop went wrong. According to the deal, that means that the girl is ours. Higurashi argued that he couldn't help the fact that the police would get suspicious if he hadn't agreed to the terms, but my brother is ruthless and told him that Kagome would be killed." Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. It had all been set up by his employer... The dirty bastard. He listened half-heartedly as Onigumo continued. "Thinking that she's dead would be better than knowing what will actually happen to her. We're going to keep her for a while before selling her to the black market. She'd probably end up as a sex slave. She's being held at 1534 La Palma Boulevard." he muttered. "Apartment three – the building is abandoned. Security is pretty tight."

Inuyasha smiled. "Okay, let's go." Inuyasha hefted him up by his arm and Onigumo's eyes widened. He began stuttering about a bomb and Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "C4, a timer, and a pencil detonator won't do anything without a charger. You are a cop – you're supposed to know this stuff." He shoved the man in the back seat.

"But—but why aren't you going to kill me?" Onigumo asked suspiciously, sitting up in his seat.

Glancing skyward, Inuyasha glanced into the rearview mirror as he began to drive off. "You said security was tight – I'll need a bargaining chip." he said with a slight smirk. The lieutenant's eyes widened marginally.

"Mr. Tama, you are an intelligent man."

"Thank you."

* * *

_Tumbleweed_


	8. Chapter Eight

Inuyasha couldn't see straight as he drove to the Higurashi manor. The father had set up the entire thing with Onigumo's brother just for publicity. He snarled just thinking about it. Onigumo was wisely keeping quiet and stared out the window as they drove. "Stay in the car." Inuyasha said to Onigumo as he parked the car. After exiting the vehicle, he locked the doors so Onigumo wouldn't even be tempted. Stomping up the walk, he entered the home and went straight for Mr. Higurashi's study, where he figured the man would be found. Snarling, he kicked open the door.

"You dirty, low _bastard_," he growled. "You set it all up – you had Kagome kidnapped and beaten for **publicity**! And now she's _dead_!" Albeit Inuyasha had learnt that she wasn't dead, Higurashi thought that he was, so it was in his advantage. "She was your goddamn _daughter_, Higurashi!"

Mr. Higurashi looked up wearily from his desk. "Inuyasha, please, do not lay this guilt upon me. I have enough of it already."

"No you don't," Inuyasha snapped. "You _killed_ her, Higurashi! It's **your** fault she's dead."

The broken man began to weep. Mrs. Higurashi, having heard the ruckus, had come downstairs to see what it was all about. "Inuyasha – dear you're hurt." She touched the man's chest before following his fiery gaze to her husband. Her eyes narrowed. "What's going on?"

Pointing an accusatory finger at Mr. Higurashi, Inuyasha told her. "He set up Kagome's kidnapping. It's _his_ fault that she's gone!"

Mrs. Higurashi balked and gazed with wide eyes from her husband to Inuyasha and back to her husband. "Dear... say it isn't so." she said quietly. Shaking her head, she mumbled incoherent denials. "No," Inuyasha caught, "it can't be. You wouldn't do something like that. You couldn't!"

"We needed the publicity!" Mr. Higurashi bellowed suddenly. Inuyasha glared at the man with a burning hatred while Mrs. Higurashi dropped to her knees and began to weep. "We were losing our money – my business cannot fail! I will not allow it!"

The woman at Inuyasha's feet looked up. "**SHE WAS YOUR DAUGHTER**!" she shrieked at him. Getting to her feet, she pointed a shaky hand at him. "She was your only child, and you sold her off as _property_! Get out of my house!"

"I bought this house!" he shouted back at her. "It was my money that kept us alive and in good standings for so many years – to fail now would be inconceivable and wrong!" Inuyasha growled as Mr. Higurashi got to his feet. The crazed man released a gun from a holster around his waist and aimed it for Mrs. Higurashi. "Anyone standing in my way now will fall!" Inuyasha got his gun out faster than Mr. Higurashi could respond and he shot him through the heart. He fell back with a sickening thud against the wall, sliding down it to come to rest upon the floor.

His wife cried out and ran toward him, placing a hand on his face. "My love... Yuriko... how could you do something like this? How?" She cried over his body and Inuyasha stared at him as his gun arm lowered slowly, mechanically. Swallowing hard, he fled the room and headed for the front door. Forcefully driving any traces of guilt from his mind, he got back into the car and drove away.

* * *

Inuyasha pulled up in front of a run-down warehouse where the lieutenant's directions had led him to. It was eerily quiet, but he understood. If someone was going to shoot him, they'd do so quietly. He pulled Onigumo out of the car and made sure to look around meaningfully. Inuyasha had learnt a good deal of information about "The Voice" from Onigumo. He'd prattled on and on about his name, family, and other pointless topics until Inuyasha had to point a gun at him to shut him up. 

"Naraku, I know you're out there! Give me the Higurashi girl and I'll give you your brother! No strings attached, just a clean hand-off, no one gets hurt." Inuyasha called, pulling out his gun and putting an arm around the man's neck. His intentions were to get Kagome out of her alive, if it meant his own life in return. However, giving his life was a last resort.

A sinister laugh filled the air. A shudder ran down Inuyasha's spine, making him shiver. "You think you have the upper hand in this, Mr. Tama?" Inuyasha assumed that was Naraku's voice. He didn't like the voice almost immediately. "I couldn't care less if you killed my brother – he's a worthless vomitous mass that gives law enforcement a bad name. By shooting him you'd be doing me a favor." Naraku drawled from a window. Taking careful but quick aim, Inuyasha shot the window through that Naraku had been presumably yelling out of. The gun then returned to Onigumo's neck. Naraku cackled once more. "Kill him, Mr. Tama, I beg of you."

Onigumo was pale with fear. "My brother – please do not speak ill of me! You know mother wouldn't like it. Just give him the girl and it will all go away!"

Naraku snapped at his brother. "Do not speak of that hag in my presence. You know very well that I love to loathe you, Onigumo." There was a pause."Mr. Tama, stop taking your time and just shoot him already."

Most people would've given up at this end and just kicked Onigumo in the pants, got in the car, and driven away. But Inuyasha was not 'most people'. He was Inuyasha. Growling, he pointed his gun downward and shot Onigumo in the foot. Crying out in pain, Onigumo writhed in his arms. "Give me the girl, Naraku. You're bluffing. You want your brother alive because he's your only strong mole in the force." he snarled, glowering up at the window.

Silence reigned for only a few moments. The door to the warehouse opened and Kagome appeared in the doorway, held back by a man much larger than she. Inuyasha growled as he laid eyes on the sight. Kagome's mouth was taped, but her eyes were locked on Inuyasha and clearly screamed for him to help her. Cocking his gun, Inuyasha put it to Onigumo's head. "I can't trust you, Naraku. Give me Kagome first." he said, looking back up at the window. "And I swear to God if you shoot either of us, your brother won't live to see another sunset."

The same ominous laugh bellowed down the empty street and a hand appeared from said window and waved down at the man. Kagome was shoved forward and she moved as fast as she could toward Inuyasha. Tossing Onigumo forward, Inuyasha hugged Kagome to him with one arm, keeping his gun trained on Onigumo. He slit her bonds with his claws while his arm was behind her and nudged her toward the door of the car. "Get in the car." he whispered to Kagome. She obeyed slowly and he kept his gun out the entire time as Onigumo hobbled toward the door.

Barely giving himself enough time to settle into the car, Inuyasha turned the key and sped off. A hail of bullets followed them all the way up the street. Inuyasha slowed down once they were a safe distance from the warehouse. His grip was tight on the wheel. "Are you okay?" he bit out, his eyes on the road, though pained. Both of his gunshot wounds were still bleeding profusely. Kagome was in tears, her arms crossed over her chest with bruises clearly shown. She mumbled a response, and Inuyasha glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Kagome?"

"I'm fine." she whispered a little stronger. It was a fairly long drive from the beach back to the Higurashi home. He wanted her to see a doctor first, so he was heading for a hospital. She had assumed that as well, and hadn't protested. Kagome closed her eyes and a heart-wrenching sob broke its way through her throat and reached Inuyasha's ears.

Inuyasha's ears twitched. When they got caught at a red light, one of his hands left the steering wheel to push her chin upward to look at him. "What's wrong?"

Kagome sobbed once more and moved over to the middle seat so she could bury her face into his shoulder. "It was horrible, Inuyasha." she bawled. "They beat me every time I spoke or did something wrong. I had to eat the most horrible food. But the worst," She hiccoughed and shifted as he started driving again, keeping an eye on the road while looking down at her. "My father ordered the kidnapping. It was a deal with Naraku. If he gave him ten million dollars, he'd do this for us. It was all a publicity stunt."

The dog demon beside her rubbed her back in what he hoped was a soothing gesture. "He can't hurt you anymore." he said gravely. Kagome looked up at him with shock shining in her cobalt eyes. "He's dead."

Sitting up abruptly, Kagome put a hand over her mouth. "But... how?"

"I shot him. He had a gun, and he was aiming for your mother. I was doing my job." Kagome hiccoughed once more before beginning to bawl once more, refusing to look at him. "I'm sorry, Kagome." Kagome only sent a withering look in his direction in response, before turning back toward her window. Inuyasha swallowed and pulled out his cell phone to call Mrs. Higurashi. Ayame answered the phone, and she sounded fairly happy considering the situation. "Ayame, I've got Kagome." he told her.

Ayame gasped, a hand coming to her breast. "Dead?" she whispered as if she were afraid of the truth.

"Alive," he replied. "I'll explain if Izumi hasn't when I get there. I'm taking her to a doctor first. She's been beaten."

The wolf demon sighed in relief, closing her eyes with a short, gracious prayer. "Alright, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha hung up and put the phone back in his jacket pocket. He winced at the movement. His wounds were bleeding, but Kagome didn't seem to notice. She was instead staring out of the window, her eyes foggy from tears and trembling horribly. She had heard all of his and Ayame's conversation, but made no protest when he opened her door and led her into the doctor's office.

* * *

Dr. Totousai was an odd demon. He appeared to be old and frail, and had large eyes, but Kagome had been forewarned by Inuyasha that he could be a pervert. Apart from that, Inuyasha had just shadowed her every movement and made sure she was comfortable. Her breathing was labored from barely held sobs, but she refused to allow herself to be comforted by her father's murderer. Inuyasha glanced up as the door opened and the old man returned to the examination room. 

"Well, my dear, you've got nothing broken, and no serious injuries. All of these cuts and bruises are superficial. Your blood test came up negative for any sort of infection or virus, so you're good to go." The old man tapped the clipboard sharply and Kagome nodded in response.

The raven head lifted and she looked over toward Inuyasha with a cold look. "Take me home, Inuyasha." she told him quietly.

Inuyasha stood from his chair in the corner and nodded, offering a hand to her as she slipped herself off of the table. She ignored the hand. Frowning to himself as she went into the bathroom to change back into her clothes, Inuyasha turned to the doctor. "Thanks, old man. I owe you one."

Totousai bobbled his old head up and down in agreement. "You really should have those bandages replaced, though. Your wounds smell as if they are possibly infected."

The demon scowled, but dipped his chin. "Can you do it now? I'm kind of in a hurry."

"Need to get out of the country, eh?" Inuyasha didn't respond. "Alright, fine, keep your secrets. I'll go get some new bandages and antiseptic. You probably opened up those stitches with all that activity." He winked conspiratorially. "You get that jacket and shirt off while I'm gone, though." The old man left the room and Inuyasha removed his jacket.

Kagome exited the bathroom and folded the robe, setting it down on a chair. "I thought we were leaving." she said, gesturing at his jacket.

Surprised that she was actually talking to him still, Inuyasha nodded. "We are," he said, "But I need to get my bandages changed before they get infected. Now that I know you're safe, I can worry about myself." With that, he began to unbutton his blood-stained over-shirt. After that was left on the bed behind him, he placed his hands at the ends of his undershirt and lifted it. The shirt's removal allowed Kagome to see two pieces of gauze kept in place with tape and wrap placed around his torso.

"Those are from the kidnapping." she mumbled quietly. Inuyasha inclined his head at her. As the door opened once more, she tore her eyes away and looked up at Totousai. The old man was returning with his promised supplies.

Totousai got right to work and unraveled the wrap around Inuyasha's torso. Inuyasha winced as he peeled the gauze and tape off of his skin. The doctor clicked his tongue. "You naughty, naughty boy; you've gone and undone your stitches and gotten both of them infected. Shame on you." He got right to work and carefully took out the remnants of the last stitches, and then cleaned away the blood that had seeped out of the wounds. Without warning, he stuck a needle into the offending places and numbed them up, causing Inuyasha to curse at him. "Oh hush," the old man said, flicking the boy on the nose, "You're lucky I even gave you morphine. Deal with it."

Inuyasha frowned, but quieted as the doctor re-stitched the bullet wounds and placed fresh gauze over them, taping them down once more. He then wound a fresh wrap around the boy's torso. "All done," the old man declared, taking off his gloves and tossing them in the trash. "Get some fresh clothes, would you?" He was joking, Inuyasha knew that. The demons had known one another since Inuyasha was a child.

The dog demon got his clothes back on with a scowl in the doctor's direction and stood up. "Come on, Kagome." he said, moving toward the door. Kagome silently followed him, pondering what she should say to him on the drive back to her home, if anything. She'd seen how bad the two wounds looked – he must have been in pain the entire time he was running around and getting to her. There had to have been an ulterior motive for him. But what?


	9. Chapter Nine

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: Wow, I haven't updated in forever... I figured I should bring this loveable tale to an end. Yes, it's a short chapter, but it's there, and it provides closure for all of my readers for this one... I probably should end Trucker too, but I'm too lazy. This is what you get for today, I might work on Trucker later. Thanks for reading!

* * *

Inuyasha's car rolled to a stop in front of the Higurashi house as slowly as Inuyasha could manage it. He'd shot Kagome's father. She wouldn't want him anymore. If he stayed her bodyguard, the relationship would be informal and would never be the same. He let out a small sigh, looking over at her. She was hugging herself, deep in thought or she would've realized that she was home. He reached over and touched her shoulder, gently as he could. To his surprise, she moved over on the seat and hugged him. Recovering from his shock quickly enough, he put his arms back around her, holding her to him quietly.

"I missed you, Inuyasha." she said, her voice a little watery. "And... I guess it's okay... that you shot my dad. I mean, he was gonna get me killed, and you said he had a gun toward Mama... Besides, Inu-chan." She smiled up at him. "You saved my life." She stared up into his eyes for a moment or two, before lifting her chin enough to kiss him. Inuyasha blinked before he slowly kissed her back, just now realizing how much he had missed her while he was looking for her. Up until then, they hadn't spent more than a day away from each other. She pulled away a few moments later for air, though she nipped at his lower lip before pulling away. "I should go say hi to Mama, huh?"

He smiled, and nodded. He got out of the car, going around and helping her out of the passenger seat. She stood and headed up the stairs to see her family again. Inuyasha caught up to her, slipping his arm about her shoulders comfortably. She smiled up at him, and he opened the front door for her.

"Mama? Ayame? Jumbo?" Kagome stepped in, moving away from Inuyasha for a moment. The house was quiet. Izumi was probably mourning her husband's stupidity, and Ayame was most likely getting Kagome's room all ready for her again. Izumi came down the stairs at Kagome's voice though, her tear-streaked face becoming more so as she spotted her daughter. Inuyasha watched as his heart swelled a bit with pride that he could cause this joyous reunion. He looked up at Ayame and the rest of the household workers as they came into the house, smiling at Inuyasha in thanks for the return of their angel. He just smiled back lightly.

Kagome spotted it over her mother's shoulder. She grinned at him. "Inu-chan, you're smiling." she said mischievously.

He laughed a little. "Yeah, Kag, I'm smiling." he replied, leaving the smile on his lips even after he looked away.

* * *

**EPILOGUE**

It was three years after the kidnapping. Inuyasha was charged with numerous accounts of murder, two accounts of kidnapping, one account of arson, and other various offenses in Italy. But he had been doing it to avenge a girl he loved, and if any country could understand that, it was Italy. No one really pressed the charges, but they were formally taken up against him. He was quietly deported from Italy, but he didn't mind. Kagome came with him.

They moved to Spain, into a quiet little house in the suburbs where they could both just bask in each other's love. And that's just what they did. They were married only six months after the ordeal, and their first son was born almost exactly nine months afterward. They named him Kio. He was almost two now. Inuyasha was seated in the porch swing, watching as Kio ran around the front yard, from the tire swing to the little plastic slide they had gotten for him. He smiled fondly at his son, proudly and reverently. He never thought he'd have kids, but here he was.

A very pregnant Kagome stepped out of the house, holding two glasses of iced tea. She held one out to him as she sat down, and he took it. He kissed her cheek gratefully, laying a hand over her belly to feel for any kicks from their baby girl. Kagome smiled. "She's been quiet lately. I think it's getting closer to time."

Inuyasha nodded. "It's likely." He kissed her. "You look so beautiful, Kagome."

"Stop buttering me up, Inuyasha. I'm still going to break your hand for knocking me up when Kio was barely off the bottle..." She frowned at him for a moment before leaning on his shoulder. "I love you though."

He nuzzled the top of her head. "I love you too." He took in the scent of her hair and watched Kio trip over some random toy in the yard, tumbling and rolling to a stop on his bum. He paused, trying to figure out whether or not he was hurt. He decided that he was and started wailing. Inuyasha got up before Kagome could even think about it, picking up his son and cooing at him. She smiled. Inuyasha was such a great father. She trusted him to keep her and the children safe. Since moving here, they hadn't had any issues with kidnappings. Inuyasha thought it had something to do with her father being dead, but the subject was rarely brought up anymore.

As she sat there, rubbing her stomach and watching Inuyasha play with Kio, a thought passed through her mind.

Life is good.

And for them, it was.


End file.
